It was GREED⦠1. Political GREED from the DemoCraps in 1999 when they initiated âAffirmative Action Lendingâ to non-qualified borrowers⦠and it was GREED for those same DemoCraps to vehemently oppose all efforts to reign-in or regulate those mortgages. 2. GREED for the RepubliClowns to stop opposing the reckless lending and to jump on the bandwagon for political gain. 3. GREED from the Congress to force banks to make irresponsible loans to non-qualified borrowers. 4. GREED from the Congress to force Fannie and Freddy to buy those same poor quality loans from the banks and to package them for resale to unsuspecting investors. 5. GREED from rating agencies to use âcreative meansâ to rate sub-prime mortgages as âAAAâ 6. GREED from Wall Street to provide funding for Mortgage Backed Securities so they could package and sell them to unsuspecting investors and make outrageous fees. 7. GREED to allow mortgages to be approved as âno docâ⦠where income is not verified. 8. GREED from Wall Street to sell âinsuranceâ against default (Credit Default Swaps), but to label them as âswapsâ so they didnât have to call them âinsuranceâ⦠which would have required somebody to post reserves to satisfy obligations if called upon. 9. GREED from Greenspan, Bernanke, and the Federal Reserve by keeping interest rates unconscionable low for a very long time while pumping the money supply at 15-20% for several years⦠thus inflating the housing bubble. There are more culprits, but itâs easy to see there was LOTS OF WRONGDOING ALL AROUND⦠it started, as do most major economic disasters, with POLITICAL GREED! The Gummint is now trying to âfixâ the market price of real estate⦠to prevent further decline in housing prices and prevent foreclosures. They are of course, wasting a lot of taxpayer money in the attempt, but Iâm not sure it will workâ¦. more likely they will only extend the agony and make the ultimate cost much higher. (The problem, in spite of the housing price declines thus far, is home prices are still too high to be affordable according to income. Either incomes need to rise dramatically⦠hard to imagine with the labor cost competition from Asia⦠or house prices need to fall so that current income levels can afford mortgages.) I did some pricing in my neighborhood⦠I guess you could call it âupper middle classâ⦠rents are still about $1,200 per month below ownership costs (PIT) for the lowest priced homes, even with 20% down. Housing prices need to yet fall substantially further to become affordable.